AC Milan beat Alessandria 5-0 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Tuesday night to reach the Coppa Italia final.
In what was an entertaining first-half, it was the Rossoneri who took the lead through Jeremy Menez in the 2oth minute. In the 23rd minute, Alessio Romagnoli doubled Milan’s lead, leaving Menez to make it 3-0 before the break.
In the second-half Alessandria improved greatly, yet it was the Diavolo who scored first, with Roberto Sabato scoring and own goal. In the dying minutes, Mario Balotelli scored a fifth.
Milan started the game in control and should have taken the lead in the seventh minute.
Juraj Kucka produced a wonderful piece of skill to burst into the penalty area before he slid the ball back to Keisuke Honda. However, with an open goal in front of him, the Japanese international put his effort over the bar.
Two minutes later Alessandria responded. Gianluca Nicco broke the Rossoneri’s offside trap with a clever through ball, but Manuel Fischnaller’s shot was smothered by the aware Christian Abbiati.
Yet, Milan were still on top. Honda chipped the ball over the L’Orso defence to Menez, who chested the ball down and into his path, before firing a fierce shot beyond Gianmarco Vannucchi.
Three minutes later the Diavolo doubled their lead through Romagnoli. Juraj Kucka flicked on a corner into the path of Romagnoli, who, at the back-post simply tapped in to score.
In the 39th minute, Milan entered cruise control. Andrea Poli burst into the penalty area and slid a pass to Menez who tapped in for his second of the night.
In the second-half, Alessandria made a recovery could have pulled a goal back when Fischnaller narrowly headed a whipped free-kick wide.
However, it was Milan who scored once again, with Sabato accidentally tapping the ball into his own net. In the 89th minute, Balotelli calmly stroked home to score the Rossoneri’s fifth.
The Rossoneri will face one of Juventus or Inter in the final, with the Bianconeri looking to protect their 3-0 lead from the first leg when the two sides meet on Wednesday.
